“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
We can hope because of our faith. Without faith, hope does not exist, for it is the substance; the property of; the reason one can even hope at all. Faith gives us the confidence that what we hope for will come to fruition; it assures us that we will have what we hope for. When our faith is rooted in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, we stand on the firm foundation of His promises…
A good example of this is the woman who grazed the tip of Jesus’ cloak. Her faithfulness in His power fuelled her hope that she would be healed of her disease, even if she were to just touch the tip of His garment. Her faith allowed her to hope in the first place; it gave her confidence to believe in His grace and mercy; it assured her that Jesus would heal her — and He did.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
When one has the faith of a Christian, it shows the world the sincerity of their beliefs in the unseen. It proves that their beliefs are so strong — in the resurrection, in the trustworthiness of the Bible, in the way the world was formed, in the flood, in all of the history of the Word of God, in the power of God, and in Jesus’ love for us — that nothing can shake them.
One’s faith should be enough evidence for others to consider the truth of things unseen. For example, the faith of the first Christians — the faith in their resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ — was so pure, that they held onto it until their own deaths. Anybody who did not see Jesus resurrected can hear these stories of the first martyred Christians and should undeniably be able to consider their faith enough evidence for the truth of things unseen.
Another good example of this would be Noah. God told him to build an ark because He was going to flood the earth. Noah trusted in God and began building. His faith in God’s word served as evidence of what was unseen, but later seen, for when the rain poured down and the waters sprang up from the deep, the ark he was commanded to build saved him and his family.
Faith is also a choice to follow the will of God.
Just as love has its moments where you inexplicably feel it and others where you have to choose to be loving… Faith is the same. There are moments where you feel the emotional high of your faith, and there are others where you feel all alone and begin to doubt whether God is with you or if He’s even real at all. Those moments when we can’t feel anything, are the moments we have to choose to be faithful and trust in God’s promises. We need to choose to not let go of the hand that brought us out of evil.
Whenever I am drifting away from God, I take a moment to remember all that He’s done for me… One of which was literally save me from myself. I was extremely depressed and there was only one thing I wanted, and it definitely was not to be living on this earth anymore… But God saved me. He forgave me. He healed me. His grace is the reason I am alive today. Without him, this book would not be in your hands.
Not every day has been easy since that blessed day. Some days my pride or my desires want to take over; some days I want to follow my own lead or allow myself to fall into temptation. But those are the days I have to exercise my faith by consciously choosing God’s will over my own. For I know that His ways are better than mine.
KEEP IT UP
Keep your confidence in what you hope for. Keep your assurance about the things you cannot see. Keep acting in your faith. For if you do not, you may succumb to the darkness once again and lose it all. At times it may be tough, but as long as you keep your knees on the ground and your head lifted high, the Lord will not let you down. As long as your faith is completely in the Lord, He will continue to renew your mind in Him. So have faith that His will is better than anything you could want for yourself. Have faith that what He has planned is greater than all else. Have faith that He is good, because He is good all of the time.
Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
There’s No Need To Fear, Jesus Will Be Here.
Every time we choose to have faith over giving into our fears, we are choosing to live more eternally and less like this world. We are choosing to fight the worldly dilemmas and evil attacks on our souls. We are choosing to know that the Lord will deliver us from Satan. And He has! He has already won the war. He has already won the battle. He has already won our souls. He has chosen life for us; now it’s our turn to choose life for ourselves.
If you enjoyed the information here, you can read more in my book that this is extracted from:
